A Democratic mayor warns his sanctuary city is nearing a “breaking point” in housing migrants
“Biden resorted to threatening the American people with an even worse border crisis,” Texas Rep. Austin Pfluger.
Denver's Democratic mayor, Mike Johnston, has warned that the city is close to breaking even as officials struggle to accommodate the growing number of economic migrants entering the country through the U.S. southern border under the Biden administration.
Democratic-controlled cities, such as Denver, whose leaders promoted theirs city sanctuary policiesnow claim that they cannot accept the influx of undocumented migrants in their communities.
More than 6.5 migrants has crossed the line since Biden took office, not including about 1.7 million known departures, according to US Customs and Border Protection. In fiscal year 2023, 169 people on the terrorist watch list were caught trying to enter the country through the US-Mexico border. Last year, Texas governor Greg Abbott began transporting hundreds and sometimes thousands of migrants to sanctuary cities across the United States to expose the problems faced by small border towns and cities in Southern border states whose public services (public schools, hospitals and shelters) were; overwhelmed as a result of the Biden administration's policies allowing massive illegal immigration.
Since December, multiple reports noted that the city hosted 4,000 migrants in its shelters, with more expected to arrive. Citing city officials, Fox News reported earlier this week that Denver will remove about 140 families from shelters, with plans to remove an additional 660 migrant families over the next few weeks.
CBS News reported Monday that the city of Denver will evict migrants who have been housed in shelters for 42 days based on their arrival date.
According to a statement about the city website, Denver supported 38,443 migrants through February 5, 2024, at a cost of more than $42 million. The statement warned that the influx of economic migrants could force the city to cut as much as $180 million from its annual budget for other services.
Last week, Mayor Johnston told Fox News that Denver is “very close” to its breaking point. During a press conference last week, the mayor stated that the city is at capacity.
“We have filled every hotel room we have available in the city and county of Denver,” he said. “Now we have the terrible decision that if we don't start getting people out, we're going to have 250 people arriving today or tomorrow who won't have anywhere to go at night.”
Massachusetts Democratic Governor Maura Healey expressed similar concerns about the state's ability to accommodate more illegal immigrants as dozens of migrants sleep on the floor at Logan Airport in Boston. Last month, Healey cited this as evidence that the state cannot house any more migrants.
“The bottom line here is we're really reaching, reaching capacity,” Healey said. … “I'm just going to continue to express in the strongest terms possible, that's why we need action from the federal government. This is not a problem that Massachusetts created. However, it's a problem we have to deal with now.”
Like The Boston Herald previously reported in November, the state's shelter system had peaked at 7,500 families, with many adults and children placed on a waiting list. The photos of migrants sleeping at the airport in Boston were first shared by CBS News last month Other states that have been forced to shelter migrants at airports include Texas, Arizona, Illinois and New York.
In an affluent suburb of Chicago, Illinois, a city councilor recently floated the idea of asking residents to open their homes to economic migrants, noting that the influx of illegal immigrants under the Biden administration is unsustainable, according to The Gazette.
President Joe Biden has faced criticism from Republicans and some members of his party over the border crisis. The governor of Texas, in particular, has accused the Biden administration of failing to fulfill its “constitutional duty” to enforce federal laws.
On Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that the president threatened to cut funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the coming weeks, thereby thwarting the agency's ability to remove illegal immigrants at the southern border as retaliation for the failure of the Senate's unpopular cap bill, according to American Military News.
During a press conference, Jean-Pierre said reporters, “Here's what this means: ICE would be forced to reduce its removal operations, its overall detention capacity, and more. When ICE cannot conduct these operations, our national security and public safety will be harmed.”
In response, Republicans in both the House and the Senate criticized the Biden administration to “threaten the American people”.
Rep. Austin Pfluger, R-Texas, tweeted“President Biden has now resorted to threatening the American people with an even worse border crisis. The President already has the tools and authority he needs to close the border. This crisis is intentional.”
On Monday, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, listed 12 reasons why the Senate's border bill could not be seen as a legitimate solution, including that it would allow 1.8 million illegal immigrants to enter the United States, and would continue to allow catch-and-release of economic migrants into the country.
According to NBC News, the Biden administration plans to take executive action to address the border crisis. According to two US officials, the administration has been considering the plan for months.
The unnamed official reportedly told the network that the measures the administration is considering may upset some progressive members of Congress, but are likely to please Democratic mayors who have asked for help from the federal government. Currently, however, the measures are not expected, because they are still in the process of drafting, according to NBC.
Biden criticized Senate and House Republicans for rejecting the proposed Senate border bill that included funding for Ukraine, Israel and Gaza, which many saw as a war funding bill instead of a border security bill. Multiple Republican senators, including Texas Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn, said a president who refuses to enforce current immigration laws would only exacerbate the border crisis.
“The fact of the matter is that we have no confidence, zero confidence, that the Biden administration will uphold the law when it comes to the border,” Cornyn said.
Source: www.christianpost.com